Passion, Challenges, and SQL

TSQL Tuesday

The second Tuesday of the month comes to us a little early this month. That means it is time again for another group blog party called TSQLTuesday. This party that was started by Adam Machanic has now been going for long enough that changes have happened (such as Steve Jones (b | t) managing it now). For a nice long read, you can find a nice roundup of all TSQLTuesdays over here.

The Why?

Long time friend Andy Leonard (b | t) invites us this month to do a little checkup on ourselves and talk about the “why” around what we do. This could be a very easy topic for some. Equally, this could be a very difficult topic for those same people at different times in their lives. Thus the problem, the topic is simple in nature but sure requires a firm reflection on self and what you have been doing.

The problem for me is less about the “why” behind what I do, and more about how to stretch it out into something more than a few sentences. Think! Think! Think!

Challenges

One of my biggest reasons why I do what I do, boils down to the challenges that I frequently get to encounter. There is a wild satisfaction to working on a very difficult and challenging task, product, tool, profession, skill, etc. This satisfaction often involves reward and a sense of accomplishment.

The challenge can be anything from how to effectively communicate with a difficult person, a tough to find internals problem in SQL Server that could be causing a performance issue, or taking over a project and turning it back from the edge of failure and onto a track of success. Sometimes, the challenge may be as simple as converting a pathetic cursor into a set based approach and gaining an improvement of 100x in performance.

I really do enjoy some of the puzzles (challenges) that I get to work on routinely. This gives me an opportunity to improve my skillset as well as continue to learn. Being able to continually improve is a great motivation for me. The frequent challenges and continual opportunity to learn presents a great opportunity to evolve ones self and career. In a constantly changing world, being able to naturally and easily evolve your personal career is a bonus!

Passion

“Do what you love and you will never work a day in your life.” This is a common saying in the United States. Agree or disagree – there is some truth to it. Being able to do something one loves makes the really hard days a lot easier. Knowing, I may be able to solve a complex problem makes it easier to face the day.

I really enjoy the opportunity to face difficult challenges and resolve those challenges. The passion to solve these puzzles with data doesn’t end there. I also really do enjoy the opportunity to learn which brings up two other challenges that help me learn: speaking and writing.

By putting myself out there regularly to speak and write, I am becoming a better technical person. I am becoming better equipped to solve many of the puzzles I face. Those are great benefits. That said, I don’t feel I could get out there and talk about something about which I wasn’t passionate. I have learned to become passionate about writing and speaking – though I still have plenty of room for improvement (just as I do in my quest to become a good DBA).

Wrapping it Up

I really do enjoy the challenges I get to face on a frequent basis in the world of data. This is the big “WHY” for me to continue my progress in this career.

Find something you are passionate about and strive to envelop your career with as many opportunities to do that thing. If that means accepting some less wanted tasks in order to do more of the thing you love, it could very well be worth it!

Auto-generated statistics names can seem like they are entirely random, but there is a method to the madness. With a little effort and a bit of TSQL trickery, we can decode those names and reveal what the names really mean.

The default collation for SQL Server is a pretty bad idea. Sure, it works but so does SQL Server 7. When you have the opportunity to update to more current technologies, it is a good idea. Sometimes though, that upgrade can come with some pain. This article shows how to alleviate one such pain point by fixing problems related to collation conflicts and XE.

This article has just shared multiple tools to help you become more acquainted with the Query Store! This acquaintance is coming via an extremely powerful tool called Extended Events. Through the use of these two sessions and two additional scripts, this article demonstrates how to become more familiar with the internals for QDS.

The ability to quickly and easily trace a query is important to database professionals. This script provides one useful alternative to trace a specific spid similar to the method of using the context menu to create the trace within SSMS and Profiler.

This article takes us to the edge with a couple of CRM related errors after changing the service account to a more secure Managed Service Account. Despite the CRM reports working properly within Report Manager (via SSRS), the reports would fail in CRM.

Working with Extended Events will help you become a better DBA. Working with PoSh can also help you in many various tasks to become a better DBA. Combine the two and you just might have a super weapon.